How to Fix a Severely Pruned Crape Myrtle

A severely pruned crape myrtle is a tree that has been cut down to the bare branches. While crape myrtle does well with proper pruning, overpruning leads to reduced blooms and long, flimsy branches. If you have made a mistake when pruning your trees or you have inherited severely pruned crape myrtles, take care to encourage the plant to grow to its best ability.

Things You'll Need

Balanced fertilizer

Pruning shears

Instructions

- 1
  Allow the tree to grow without pruning for a year. If you do not know how to prune a crape myrtle, it is best to avoid pruning it at all. While the myrtle will not look its best, give it the chance the recover from the overpruning.
- 2
  Fertilize your crape myrtle with a complete fertilizer. If the crape myrtle is young, fertilize it three times a year -- once in March, May and July, respectively. If your crape myrtle is full grown, fertilize it once per year in early April.
- 3
  Water the crape myrtle at least once per week, especially in dry weather. One way to thoroughly soak the soil is to remove the nozzle from the hose and leave the hose near the crape myrtle with the water turned on to a slow stream. Leave the hose for one or two hours so that the soil gets completely soaked.
- 4
  Prune your crape myrtle the following February. Inspect the branches and cut them down to the first fork. Instead of leaving a cluster of bare branches, leave branches topped with forked twigs. This ensures lush and full growth.

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